Police seek help in alleged rape case

Police are seeking help from the public to solve the rape complaint they received over the weekend.

A Cook Island woman in her early 20s received serious injuries after allegedly being raped and brutally assaulted in the vicinity of Atupa village in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Detective Inspector Aremu Ingaua said a team from the Criminal Investigation Bureau had been on the case since receiving the report on Saturday.

They had carried out a forensic examination of the alleged crime scene and had recovered some items.

These items would be sent to the New Zealand Police forensic department for further examination.

“I would like to make an appeal to the members of the public. If anyone came across any fighting or any other suspicious incident at the Hideaway Night Club (“Hidies”) in town or within its vicinity on Friday night, please contact us,” Ingaua said.

“And if anyone saw a female in a red or pink dress walking or on a motorbike with someone in the area between Hideaway Night Club and Atupa on the back road, between 2am and 6am, please contact us.

“We ask members of the public to come forward with any information they might have. No matter how little the information is, it can possibly help us in our investigation.”

Ingaua said the bureau was working tirelessly, piecing together the sequence of events that had led to the alleged crime in the small hours of Saturday morning.

CI News spoke to friends and family of the woman. They claimed she had been out socialising with friends hours before allegedly being attacked by two men and dumped in a nearby bush.

A medical report had shown the victim had suffered major internal injuries.

The victim had undergone surgery for more than three hours, a family member said.